Positive Role of Religious Leaders in enabling Tanzania to reach MDGs 5 & 6

75% of Africans identify religious leaders as the group of leaders that they trust the most and by providing religious leaders with ap¬propriate information, they are able to influence health related behaviors of their community. In Tanzania, as part of the USAID-funded MAISHA Project, IMA World Health, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and the Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders collaborated to develop toolkits to mobilize the communities for appropriate actions to improve MNCH. Three hundred Religious Leaders have been trained to use the Christian Sermon Guide for Reproductive and Child Health: A Toolkit for Tanzanian Religious Leaders and the Muslim Khutbah Guide for Reproductive and Child Health: A Toolkit for Tanzanian Religious Leaders. These guides effectively link religious scripture with evidence-based maternal newborn child health messages thereby enabling religious leaders to teach and lead their constituencies how to improve the maternal and child health status,, including the use of birth spacing for healthy communities. Over 86,985 community members in six (6) districts have heard the messages and report change in their understanding and behavior.